There is a clear path to the playoffs for the San Francisco 49ers which began in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and continues in Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks.
The game at Tampa Bay was a must-win for the previously 4-4 49ers. A defeat at 4-5 could have been catastrophic. Alas, they earned a 23-20 victory on the road. Although it was an important victory, it was only the first step for the 49ers. Perhaps more important is Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks.
It doesn’t look like the 49ers’ return to the playoffs will ever be easy this season. They could just win the rest of their games and punch their ticket that way, but with games coming up at Green Bay, at Buffalo, at home against the Lions, Dolphins and Rams, and in Arizona, the likelihood that they win is slim. That puts a handful of other scenarios on the table.
There are too many different ways to play to begin to list them here, but there is a real chance that tiebreakers will come into play for the division or for a wild card spot. The bottom line from Sunday’s game is that the 49ers can’t lose another game in the division after losing to the Cardinals and Rams earlier in the year.
NFL tiebreakers for the division begin with head-to-head record. The 49ers would sweep the season series with the Seahawks with a win on Sunday and climb further ahead of them in the standings. If the teams split their head-to-head matchups, which the 49ers would do if they beat the Rams and Cardinals, then the next tiebreaker is a record within the division.
San Francisco needs a trio of division wins down the stretch, and their second stint in the NFC West begins Sunday.
There is also a generic element to consider.
The first tiebreaker for the wild card teams is a head-to-head match. We’ll cross that bridge next week when the 49ers visit the No. 7 seed Green Bay Packers. The next tiebreaker is the conference record, and San Francisco’s three NFC losses to start the year put them behind in that category.
Piling up NFC wins will be imperative to not only having a playoff-caliber record, but also gaining a potential tiebreaker advantage.
San Francisco could still make the playoffs if it loses on Sunday. However, a win makes the path a lot easier, and finding out what that looks like with a loss to Seattle is probably a version of the playoff picture they’ll want to avoid.
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This article was originally published on Niners Wire: 49ers schedule: Week 11 game against Seahawks, a virtual must-see
